Midnight Express

Play trailer

Midnight Express

R

1978

2h 1m

Drama

Biography

Crime

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

31 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is a young American caught by Turkish police while attempting to smuggle hash out of Istanbul. He's tried and sent to prison for four years, where he endures all manner of privation and abuse. As he finishes up his time, he's shocked to learn that the Turkish High Court has added a further 30 years to his sentence. He is now thoroughly demoralized, and his life in prison grows increasingly unbearable until he concludes that escape is his only option.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Raw and unrelenting, Midnight Express is riveting in its realistic depiction of incarceration -- mining pathos from the simple act of enduring hardship.

Read Critics Reviews

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

09/18/2023

Midnight Express is single-minded in its brutal manipulation of the audience: this is a clear-cut case of the use of film technique split off from any artistic impulse.

Go to Full Review

Jay Scott

Globe and Mail

08/11/2022

Just another prison break movie... but I liked it.

Go to Full Review

Ed Potton

The Times (UK)

06/22/2018

4/5

It's a film that probably wouldn't be made today, but it taps into a potent fear: losing your liberty far from home.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jul 6

3.5/4

An emotionally gripping drama.

Go to Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

08/09/2023

6/10

Its strict adherence to facts isn’t necessarily as potent as the cinematic cautionary tale that it generates, though the depicted events will surely inspire further research into Hayes’ genuine plight.

Go to Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

03/03/2021

2/5

Brutal, dated prison drama has drugs, language, stereotypes.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Stoner J

@Stoner 19h

By far the best movie about doing time and prison break in a third world country. Outstanding writing, directing and acting

See more

mark g

@Mark_Alan_G. 1d

Based on a true story. Very entertaining and harrowing take of being caught muling drugs in a foreign country and the consequences. Davis gives an incredible performance and the soundtrack is amazing. Turkish people claim it's a racist film, but it's not about Turkey, it's about a Turkish prison.

See more

Russ G

Dec 9

A very effective film; so effective that you won't want to view it a second time!

See more

Don V

@bondo150 Nov 29

It defined the hell of a Turkish prison whil portraying the humanity needed to survive such a terrible place

See more

Shaun R

@Shaun666 Oct 17

What a film!!! If this isn’t an education in not f’in about abroad, then I don’t know what is. I watched this at a young age and never forgot it and it’s something I think about to this day everytime I go abroad. Still as powerful now as it’s ever been. It catches the filth of the place and the pain endured more than most films put together.

See more

Jack M

@Jackhole Aug 30

Parker succeeds in making the prison into a full, real, rounded world, a microcosm of human behavior;

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Alan Parker

Director

Brad Davis

Billy Hayes

Randy Quaid

Jimmy Booth

John Hurt

Max

Bo Hopkins

Tex

Paul L. Smith

Hamidou

Serpico

93%

88%

Serpico

Watchlist

In the Name of the Father

94%

95%

In the Name of the Father

Watchlist

Gloria

14%

30%

Gloria

Watchlist

The Basketball Diaries

46%

76%

The Basketball Diaries

Watchlist

The Stone Killer

60%

43%

The Stone Killer

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is a young American caught by Turkish police while attempting to smuggle hash out of Istanbul. He's tried and sent to prison for four years, where he endures all manner of privation and abuse. As he finishes up his time, he's shocked to learn that the Turkish High Court has added a further 30 years to his sentence. He is now thoroughly demoralized, and his life in prison grows increasingly unbearable until he concludes that escape is his only option.

Director: Alan Parker
Producer: Alan Marshall, David Puttnam
Screenwriter: William Hayes, William Hoffer, Oliver Stone
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 1, 1978, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 2h 1m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now